Strange Fruit
by samettikettu
Summary: The adventures in the New World suddenly have to be put in halt when Luffy eats a mysterious fruit that affects both his mind and body. What is this fruit and what does it do? And more importantly, when will it wear off? [someonexLuffy, includes several different oneshots]
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

**[A/N]** Hallo people of the Internet…

This is a fic that I shall be updating a chapter at a time, and they will all be one-shots related to this short prologue!

Pairings are all **someonexLuffy**, and they will either be **strong BROTP **_**or**_** OTP**… So far I have only five in mind, which one is still in the progress of figuring out how the f*ck I'm gonna make them work…

This is a prologue and the first chapter will be updated asap. :3

Characters © Eiichiro Oda  
>Story © samettikettu<p>

* * *

><p>The air around the Pirate ship Thousand Sunny was suffocating and filled with confusion and awkwardness. The crew members were all staring at their fearless and obvious captain, who blinked owlishly at them.<p>

"Lu-Luffy, c-could you repeat that?" the long-nosed sniper stuttered. The captain seemed clueless by the fact that his friends and family all thought that he was some imposter.

"I said that I'm not hungry."

Again, a long silence.  
>Then Chopper began to scream and call for the doctor, wailing that Luffy was sick.<br>Sanji was cursing loudly and found lighting his tobacco impossible, as his hands were shaking visibly. Maybe he was just over-reacting but how would anyone react in this kind of a situation, or any ship's chef?  
>Their Captain, Monkey D Luffy, infamous Straw Hat, aka Black-hole-as-his-stomach, was <em>REFUSING FOR FOOD<em>.

Luffy shrugged and grabbed a glass of water, eyeing it suspiciously at first, then taking a small sip.  
>A frown appeared on the boy's face and he spit the water back.<br>"Blergh!"

"Shitty Captain!? Why did you do that for?!" Sanji exclaimed and was ready to slam his heel to his captain's head. Luffy met his chef's fierce eyes with big, pleading ones and whimpered, "But everything tastes so gross after I ate that stupid fruit on that island!"

Robin tapped the table with her manicured fingernails, causing Luffy to look at her.  
>"What fruit, Captain-san?"<p>

"Ah! While I was exploring this island a while ago, I got hungry and found this funny-looking fruit from the ground! It tasted bad~"

"What did it look like?"

"It looked like a banana but had these funny stripes on it! It looked like a candy cane", the captain stuck out his tongue and made a face. "But it tasted nothing like one! And now I can't eat meat because of this horrible taste in my mouth!" The look on Luffy's face was both devastated and lost. He gave Chopper a pleading look if he could fix his mouth somehow.  
>The young doctor shook his head and gave his captain an apologetic look.<p>

"I'm sorry Luffy but I don't know which fruit you're talking about. Since we are in the New World the fruits here are completely different from the ones we had in Grand Line. Robin and I will do some research and look for that fruit from the books but up until then I don't know what to do."

Luffy slumped deeper into the chair and pouted. What use it was to him to sit here while hid crew enjoyed the food Sanji had made for them?! Usually the captain wouldn't care what the food tasted like and devoured everything he could possibly reach, even the silver wear!  
>But now, thanks to that stupid fruit, even the air tasted bad!<p>

A loud growl erupted from the boy captain's stomach which made both Luffy and Sanji cringe.  
>Sanji hated starvation and even if it was somewhat great that for once the captain wasn't stealing the crew's food, the cook hated the idea of Luffy starving just because he ate some fruit that fucked up his taste buds.<br>Luffy looked sadly at his stomach and hung his head low. This all sucked, **royally**.

"I'm going to bed..." the teen said with a sad voice as he excused himself and left the dinner table.

"Poor Luffy-san, he seems quite depressed", Brook said, and even without skin the crew could see a frown on the skeleton's face.

"Well, this leaves more to us and we can eat in peace!" Usopp tried to enlighten the mood but instead got many disapproving glares. The long-nosed man sunk down on his seat and muttered his apologies.

"There is nothing we can do since we can't identify the fruit Captain-san ate", Robin spoke rubbing her chin. "I will search the fruit from the books and when we deck on the next island I will ask around from the locals if they know something about the fruit."

Chopper nodded his head. "Me too!"

"So until we find out more about the fruit we should keep an eye on Luffy since we don't know what kind of fruit it was. If he starts to show any kind of signs that might be caused by the fruit, tell Chopper or Robin", Nami told the crew while pointing the doctor and archeologist with her fork. The others nodded at her and continued to eat slowly.

Having dinner wasn't the same without their messy, noisy and food stealing Captain.

**xxxxxx  
><strong>

Luffy had gone straight to his hammock and sulked.  
>He might be infamous from his encounters with the world and he was heading for the top with his dreams and ambitions but he still was young man at the age of nineteen and mental age of seven. He sulked only in rare occasions and this most definitely was one of them.<p>

He could handle pain, any kind of pain, and his willpower held him from backing up even if the situation was one of the worsts. But this!  
>This was pure torture!<br>Everyone knew how much the young Captain loved to eat, especially meat, and not being able to taste the wonderful and addicting flavors of the meat and other delicious things Sanji'd cooked was slowly killing him on the inside.

Luffy folded his arms over his chest and thought about throwing a full power tantrum when he suddenly started to feel sick.  
>He had never felt sick before so the feeling was completely new to him.<p>

The young Captain blinked in confusion and sat up in his hammock. He put his right hand over his chest when a sudden burn surprised him.  
>His chest was burning and slowly the heat was spreading all over his body. Luffy groaned and fell back in the bed, clutching his chest almost desperately.<p>

His vision was starting to blur from the tears in his eyes.  
>The burn was getting worse and Luffy swore that his body was slowly numbing - he couldn't move his legs!<br>With the remaining powers he had, the youth ripped his t-shirt open so he could see what caused his chest to burn like this.

And what he saw left him gape.

The scar.  
>The scar he received from Akainu's magma-fist two years ago back in Marineford was slowly disappearing!<p>

But,_ but how?!_

The next wave of pain made Luffy's back arch and it took him a lot not to scream, a small whimper did come out of him.  
>The youth panted harshly and was sweating bullets.<br>He wanted to call his crew - he wanted Chopper to help him, but when he opened his mouth to yell, nothing came out.

A silent scream left him when he felt a sharp pain under his left eye.  
>Feeling underneath the eye with shaking, sweaty fingertips, Luffy's already wide eyes widened even more when he felt the place where the old self-made scar was supposed to be.<p>

_It was gone!  
><em>  
>The youth trashed in his bed and almost fell down from the rocking hammock.<p>

He had to squeeze his eyes shut and hold his ears to block out the noises. Everything was too bright and every faintest noise was too loud for him!

What was going on?!

The last wave of burning pain sent Luffy over the edge and he screamed with no voice. The hammock's dangerous rocking eased down until it completely stopped.  
>The room was completely silent.<p>

"-upid witch thinks she can boss me around... I hope she will choke on her tangerines one day", Zoro cursed as he walked into the men's quarters.  
>Since the swordsman was Luffy's best friend and had no job on the ship, Nami had sent him to look after their distressed Captain.<br>The greenette of course had objected saying that their Captain was okay on his own and was probably throwing a tantrum in their room. _Of course_ the navigator wasn't satisfied with this answer and threatened to triple Zoro's debt.

"Oi, Luffy? You okay?" Zoro scratched his head and yawned.

The Captain didn't answer but the older youth could see the other's sandaled feet on the top hammock.  
>And since Luffy could only be this quiet when he was napping or healing from a serious fight, Zoro concluded that Luffy was indeed asleep.<p>

The man nodded to himself.  
>He could use a nap himself, and left the room.<p>

"Well, how was he?" Nami asked from the sun-bathing deck.

"He's sleeping."

"Pfth, of course. There is no reason for us to worry about him, ever", Nami hmped and went back to her tanning. Robin chuckled silently next to her.

Sanji appeared, doing his noodle-dance as he served the ladies their drinks. Hearing the women complement him sent him back to the kitchen with hearts in his eyes.

Chopper ran around the deck with Usopp. They were playing tag and since the reindeer would be unbeatable with his leg-point, they had made a mutual agreement that Chopper wasn't allowed to use his Points if it wasn't necessary.  
>Currently, Usopp was It.<p>

Franky was enjoying the nice afternoon on the deck for once. Usually he would sit in his work place trying to come up with the ways of making Sunny even more Super.  
>Brook had joined him and played some gentle tunes with his violin.<br>Zoro had chosen to have his afternoon nap lying on the deck, under the railing. The sun wasn't bothering him there and it was nice and cool there.

All in all, what a lovely afternoon to relax and enjoy the company of friends'.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

><p><strong>Prologue:<strong> Done.

**Chapter 1:** Coming soon. ;"3

Hope this perked up your interest. Thanks for reading and I will see you soon!

~ Ame

[EDIT] 21.3.-14


	2. Chapter 1: Age Fruit

**[A/N] And here we are, chapter 1!**

**Like I said, every chapter will be a one-shot and have their own story, related to the prologue. I will change some things if the story somehow doesn't go well together with the prologue.**

**This chapter will be a strong brotherly AceLu one. So yeah, strong brotherly-feels, I guess? I rewrote MW so hah! Ace is alive, HAH! Take that Oda! And I also rewrote Ace and Luffy's backround. Because I can do that. Behold the power of fanfiction!  
><strong>

**Characters © Eiichiro Oda**

**Story © samettikettu**

**Y-M-C-A!**

**I REGRET NOTHING! Except for writing this on Sunday night… I have school tomorrow and my eyes are dead. Please ignore the grammar and spelling at the end of this story.**

**MY HAND ARE F*CKING SHAKING FROM ALL OF THIS WRITING! HELP!**

* * *

><p>By the end of the day, after Sanji had called the crew to eat before doing their night routines and heading for the bed, the crew realized something was missing.<p>

The ship was oddly quiet and peaceful. None of them were telling the one certain individual to get lost or stop messing around.  
>Brook was first one to finally bring this up.<p>

"Everyone, have you seen Luffy-san lately?"

This caused the entire crew to stop and put down their utensils.  
>Sanji tapped his chin.<p>

"Come to think of it, that shitty piece of rubber hasn't bothered me all day with his whining for food."

"It was oddly quiet and I could for once relax and nap in my chair", Nami raised her brow as she changed looks with Robin. The other woman shook her head.

"I haven't seen Captain-san after this noon."

"Zoro-bro, you went to check on Luffy-bro earlier. How was he?"

"He was asleep. I could see his feet on the hammock", Zoro shrugged, even he was getting worried.

"Luffy only sleeps this much when he's badly injured and he never naps more than a few hours", Chopper rubbed his chin with his hoof. "I'm going to check on him!"

The small reindeer jumped down from the chair and hurriedly pitter-pattered outside. Zoro saw how nastily Nami was glaring at him and took it as the cue to follow Chopper.  
>Seriously, this woman would kill him one day!<p>

**xxxxxx**

Big brown eyes opened and curiously took in their surroundings.  
>Everything was so big and dark! A small round window on the door and wall were the only light sources.<p>

Investigating further, the owner of those eyes finally saw how high up he was. The small person gulped and started to shiver a little. He had no idea where he was and the last memory he had was that he had gone to bed after his older brother had read him a good night story.  
>Looking around him more desperately, the small person couldn't spot his older brother anywhere.<p>

Had he been kidnapped?

Where were grandpa and niisan?!

The small person heard two different voices outside the door and quickly dived underneath the covers. He peeked a little and saw two persons come in the room. The other had green hair and has huge! He also had a huge scar running down his chest and over his eye. His voice sounded annoyed and a little angry, which the small person fear him a little.  
>The second one was small, furry, fluffy, had a pink hat and antlers and blue nose… IT WAS TALKING REINDEER! How cool was that! The reindeer spoke with a high voice and sounded worried.<p>

The new persons looked the bed and the person hiding under the covers quickly pulled the covers better on him to hide him.

"Luffy? You still asleep?" the rough and low voice asked. The small person felt a shudder go through him.

"Luffy? I'm sorry but me and Robin haven't found anything from the books. But once we dock we will go to the town and ask around! I promise I will cure you!"

Still no answer.  
>Zoro frowned and went next to the bed. He could see over the edge thanks to his high, but once he peeked over it, he saw nothing. "Luffy?"<p>

Chopper shifted into Heavy-point and went to the other side of the bed. He poked the small figure under the covers, receiving a wince. "Hey Luffy? You okay there?"

"Hey Chopper… Was Luffy this small when we saw him this noon?"

"Huh…" Chopper tilted his head and lifted the corner or the blanket. A high squeak came from underneath the blanket. Zoro grabbed the blanket and threw it off the bed.

Chopper gasped and rubbed his eyes, Zoro's only eye widened and he froze. "L-Luffy?"

Lufy stared the two persons next to his bed with frantic eyes. He backed up to the wall and sat there hugging his knees "S-stay a-away!"

"HYAAAAH! LUFFY HAS SHRUNK!" Chopper screamed, causing Luffy to scream with him. Zoro felt his annoyance raising.

"Chopper Shut up!"

Chopper clamped his mouth shut with his hands and stared Zoro with eyes big as plates. The green-haired man sighed and looked at the small child on the bed.

"Luffy, what happened?" the man used uncharacteristically soft and gentle voice when he spoke to the frightened child. Chopper was amazed by the man's skills. Zoro really was amazing!

The child hugged the over-sized t-shirt that almost fell off him. He tried to look everywhere but the green eye.  
>He was scared and he missed his niisan! <em>Where was niisan?<em>

A soft sob passed the child's lips and soon he hid his face into his small hands and started to cry. Zoro cringed and took a step back.  
>He hadn't meant to make the boy cry!<br>Chopper only stared Zoro.

"L-Luffy? What is it? Does it hurt somewhere?" the doctor tried to reach the boy only for the boy to let out a shriek and pull the pillow in front of him to shield him from the two scary-looking pirates.  
>Wait.<br>Pirates?!  
>These were pirates!<br>He had been kidnapped by pirates!  
>Gramps was going to be so mad at him…<p>

But these pirates knew his name.  
>Why?<br>How did they know his name?

No matter, Luffy didn't want anything to do with these scary people! Besides they had a gorilla on board!

"Chopper, I think we should get everyone to see this."

"I don't know Zoro. Just look at his state, I don't think it's wise. Let's call everyone here in small groups."

Zoro nodded and went to get the others.  
>Chopper stayed with Luffy.<p>

He tried to talk and soothe him down but the small child wasn't listening to him. It was like he had completely forgotten about him.  
>The reindeer bit his lip.<br>Out of all people, Luffy had forgotten about his crew. _Impossible._

The doctor turned his head when he head hurried footsteps come towards the men's quarters. Usopp's nose came into view and soon the curly-haired man was inside the room, followed by Sanji and Franky. The trio came to stand by Chopper and all stared the small child hiding behind the pillow, which almost hid him completely.

Usopp opened and closed his mouth like a fish trying to come up with something to say. He got nothing. Neither did Sanji, who dropped the idea of taking a nerve-smoke. He just couldn't. Not around a child anyway. Besides, his hands were shaking too much to even move them up to his chest pocket.  
>Franky took off his sunglasses and rubbed them with his pointer and thumb. Nope, he was seeing right.<p>

"This… This is Luffy-bro?"

"I believe so", Chopper nodded.

"What-"

"I don't know."

"It must've been that fruit!" Usopp exclaimed a bit too loudly since it made the small version of his captain let out a whimper and hug the pillow more desperately. The sight made the sniper feel so bad that he couldn't look at the boy anymore. Franky patted his back.

"He hasn't eaten anything since this morning and that fruit… He must be hungry", Sanji muttered. He was trying to overcome the shock by cooking something to eat.  
>Yes, usually he would yell and strangle the captain for doing something stupid and making them worry for his health but now… His captain didn't even know who they were! He didn't recognize his own family!<br>That was something to be both confused and shaken about.

"Luffy?" Sanji asked gently. The small figure stopped shaking and seemed to be listening.  
>"Are you hungry? Do you want me to make something for you?"<p>

The child said nothing and shook his head.

"A sandwich?"

The boy shook his head.

"An apple?"

Denied.

Sanji wanted to yell and curse.  
>He wanted to grab the boy and force some food down to his throat. No way in Hell was going to let a little boy starve on his ship!<br>Gritting his teeth together the cook left the room. He was going to prepare something for the boy and by Roger he was going to make him eat it!

Chopper stared after Sanji and sighed.  
>The cook was taking things too seriously. But he was right about one thing, Luffy had to eat something.<p>

Judging by the child's size, he couldn't be more than five years old. Maybe older since Luffy had always been small for his age.

Nami came in with Robin. They both seemed a little confused and Chopper could only assume they had met Sanji on their way to the men's quarters.  
>The orange-haired woman pushed Usopp out of her way since the both males were glued to where they stood. They really did not know how to handle the situation.<p>

"Aww! He's cute!" Nami squealed, Robin chuckled behind her hand.

The new voices caused the boy to peek from behind the pillow but when he saw the two women, he pulled the shirt over his head and stayed inside the shirt, the pillow still hid a part of him.

"I guess little Captain-san is a little shy", Robin smiled.

"Anyway, apart from that", Nami turned her attention to Chopper. "What happened?"

"It was the fruit!" Usopp exclaimed again. "The fruit shrunk Luffy down and wiped off his memory!"

Nami kicked Usopp's calf and looked back to Chopper. "Well?"

"I do not know, but what Usopp said does make a little sense", the doctor said while rubbing his chin. The sniper started to chant 'What did I tell you!?' but no one paid any attention to him.

"We do not know what that fruit was but since we have no other knowledge of it than what Luffy himself told us, I'd suspect it really has something to do with all of this. I still want to know more about the fruit so I can cure him", Chopper said and shifted back into his normal form. Robin picked him up.

"So the fruit, huh? Luffy-bro said it was a banana with funny stripes, making it look like a candy cane", Franky said with a tilt of his head. "How an Earth will we find one of those?"

"The island had a village at the other side so I suggest we turn around and head there", Robin said and looked Nami who nodded.

"Okay. Franky, change the course, we'll head back to that island!"

"Aye aye!" Franky exclaimed and exited the quarters.

Nami looked back to Luffy, who was still hiding inside the shirt.  
>She felt really bad.<p>

"He hasn't spoken anything, has he?"

Chopper shook his head. "He's scared of us and doesn't recognize us, not even Zoro!"

"He's really turned into a kid", Usopp muttered and left the room with weak legs. When he got out of the quarters, he saw Brook standing by the door.

"Brook, why are you here?"

The skeleton seemed a little sad. "I do not want to scare Luffy-san with my appearance while he's like this."

"Oh Brook", Usopp patted the skeleton's hand which held on to the cane desperately. "Come one, let's go see what Sanji is doing."

**xxxxxx**

The evening turned into night and the whole crew was still up.  
>No one felt like sleeping, especially not now.<p>

Chopper was still checking on Luffy, who hadn't moved from underneath the t-shirt. The doctor tried to talk to him and remind him of his past by telling stories of the boy's adventures but his Captain wasn't reacting to them.  
>The small doctor was almost desperate and when he came out of the quarters, he went straight to infirmary and hid under the blanket and cried.<p>

Nami was leaning against the railing and stared out to the dark sea. Zoro and Sanji were by her side, the cook was smoking his third cigarette in one hour already. Zoro only stared in front of him and was silent.

Brook stood by the mast and played quietly something that could be identified as Binks' Sake. It was slower and quieter than usually making it sound depressing.

Robin was with Franky in front of the ship and stared the lights of the village they were heading to.

"Geez! It feels like someone's dead!" Usopp exclaimed, trying to get the others to cheer up. No one paid any attention to him. The sniper sighed and moved to join the others by the railing.

"I just wish we knew someone who could make Luffy trust us again…" the curly-haired sniper said as he slumped on the railing and stared the waves hitting Thousand Sunny's sides.

A creepy laugh startled the three man they all turned their attention to Nami, who had a wide smirk on her face.

"N-Nami-san?"

"Oi, you lost it already?"

The orange-loving woman put her hand under her chin and continued to grin while thinking about something.

"Oh but we _do_ know someone…"

* * *

><p>Somewhere in New World, another infamous pirate crew was having a midnight snack. They had been busy during the day, thanks to some rookies who thought they could take them on just because they had a new captain, who wasn't as powerful as their former captain.<br>Oh how wrong they had been.  
>The new captain might not be as strong as the former had been but he knew how to fight and protect his crewmembers.<p>

"Yo Marco! Thanks for saving my ass back there!"

"You're welcome yoi", the blonde captain chuckled as one of his crew members thanked him. He still wasn't used to being a captain and had some doubts on himself, but thanks to his supportive friends and family, he know didn't doubt himself.  
>He might've not been Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate, and he would never be, but he treasured and cherished his family as much as the old man himself had during his living years.<p>

Whitebeard was dead.  
>He had died while protecting his crew back at Marineford War. He was an inspiration to every captain that day.<br>But at least they had managed to accomplish the thing they had gone there for so Whitebeard's sacrifice wasn't wasted.

The pirates had won the war and they got Ace back.

Speaking of the young Portgas, where was he?

"Has anyone seen Ace yoi?" Marco stood up from his seat and scanned the galley. No sign of the man.

"I think I saw him outside, Marco", Izoo said behind his cup. The captain nodded and left the galley. It was weird for Ace to skip meal times so it must've been serious.  
>Looking around the big ship, Marco finally saw someone leaning against the railing in front of the ship.<p>

"Ace?"

The freckled face turned to meet Marco's. During these two years, Ace had let his hair grow a bit longer. It was tied behind his head into a short, loose ponytail, leaving his bangs rest against his face.  
>Since he now didn't have his trademark tattoo on his back, Ace had started to wear a black leather vest with Whitebeard's tattoo mark on the back of it. Leather was great material for him since it was hard to get caught on fire. The vest was open from in front of his chest since his upper body was too built-up.<br>He was still had his old pants, belt and shoes.

The 22-year-old man looked tired.

"Marco, what's up?"

"You don't look too hot, Ace. Shouldn't you go to bed or something?" Marco took the place on Ace's right and stared him worriedly.

"Can't. I see the same nightmares whenever I close my eyes", the male sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. "I see how my only little brother gets impaled by Akainu's magma fist every time I close my eyes. I couldn't protect him Marco! Just because of my own stupidity and stubbornness, Luffy… He…"

Marco closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.  
>He put his hand on the other's shoulder and squeezed it. No words needed to be said, Marco knew what Ace meant.<p>

_He had been there._

_He had seen how Luffy and Ace had tried to run from Akainu but then the shithead used a triumph card and started to mock Whitebeard. Of course this set Ace on fire, literally, and he started to advance Akainu only to find out that his Fire fruit was useless against the Marine's Magma one._  
><em>Luffy had tried and begged his brother to let it go and run but Ace didn't hear him, he was too mad.<em>

_Just when Akainu was going to hit Ace with his magma fist, Luffy used his last remaining strengths to pull Ace away. The Marine hit the ground and took his time trying to get his fist from the melted ground._  
><em>The younger D yelled at the older and told him to run, and to everybody's surprise, Ace listened for once.<em>

_They were running again but Luffy was too weak._  
><em>Marco had seen the condition of the young teen before he had started to advance the front lines. The boy was sick, a fever made his vision swim and his legs didn't carry him well.<em>

_All that hormone and adrenaline was eventually going to kill him if he didn't rest!_

_Just then Luffy's strength gave out and he fell on the ground unconscious._  
><em>Ace screamed for his brother's name and turned back for him.<em>  
><em>He picked the sick and sweating boy in his arms and was amazed just how much the kid had put up for him.<em>

_The older D heard someone's warning and managed to dash away when Akainu slammed his fist down on the ground, melting it. He roared and told the soldiers to catch the D-brothers but the pirates wouldn't let him. Whitebeard himself told his men to create a clear passageway to Ace to the ship so they could get away._

_But then Kizaru happened._  
><em>Ace felt pain in his chest as a yellow laser of some kind went through him. Just through where his tattoo was and he fell on the ground, dropping Luffy at the same time.<em>  
><em>The older groaned and hacked blood, his vision was swimming. He looked in front of him and saw Luffy lying on the ground on his side, his face towards Ace.<em>  
><em>He looked like he was sleeping.<em>

_Like an angel._

_Jimbei's shout alarmed him and he just barely managed to roll out of the way when Akainu's fist met the ground. The man's face was twisted into an ugly sneer and Ace could feel cold sweat rolling down his back._

_Ace felt someone grab his bicep and throw him out of the way._  
><em>Whitebeard stood proud in front of him and was ready to challenge Akainu.<em>

_"Take your little brother and get out of here Ace!"_

_"Old man!"_

_The old man was willing to risk his life in order to save him? But he was the son of the Devil himself! He didn't deserve this!_  
><em>Doubts and bad thought rose to Ace's mind but when he saw the look on his adoptive father's face, he felt a great gratitude towards the man.<em>

_He bowed._  
><em>He was on his knees and bowed as low as he could.<em>  
><em>He couldn't put his gratitude into words so this was all he could do.<em>

_He was really grateful towards Whitebeard for letting him join his crew and become his son. He finally had a man he could look up to and be proud to be able to call him his father._

_The mark on his back, which he treasured the most, was ruined by Kizaru, but the mark in his heart could never be._

_Whitebeard stood proud on his ground and smiled when the fire around them turned blue. The fire of Ace's distressed heart. Warm and friendly._

_"There's no need for words…" the man spoke as he stared his opponent, who was glaring up at him. His words were meant for Ace and to his sons fighting around the war zone._

_"Just answer one question for me, Ace…"_

_Ace bit his lip hard as he heard his name being called with a soft and gentle voice. No, oh God please no… He looked up from the ground, bracing himself for anything the man would say._

_"Was I a good father?"_

'Become my son!'

_Ace clawed the ground and bowed, until his head hit the ground. There he continued to push it more against the ground as he swallowed his tears._

_"Of course you were!" Ace yelled from the bottom of his heart. He heard Whitebeard go silent for a moment but then he started to laugh gently._  
><em>The older D continued to grit his teeth together as he listened his father's hearty laugh. It made him feel warm.<em>

_"Ace, live a long life with your brother", Whitebeard said._  
><em>Ace finally sat up and watched as his father started to fight against Akainu. His eyes landed on Luffy, who was a couple of feet away from him. Some random marine had dared to come up to him and was going to slay his little brother with his sword!<em>

_"Oh I don't think so!" Ace roared as he released a Hiken at the man, who backed away screaming as he burned to death._

_The older D rose and went to his brother's side, he was shocked when he laid his eyes on Luffy's distressed face. Just a moment before he was sleeping so peacefully!_  
><em>He felt his brother's forehead and quickly picked the boy up. Luffy was burning! The body heath was to high for a human, and even for a rubber human like Luffy, the heat would kill him!<em>

_"Ace-kun!"_

_"Jimbei!"_

_The merman ran up to Ace's side._

_"How is Luffy-kun?!"_

_"Bad! Jimbei, h-he, he might _die_!"_

_"We need to get to the ships!"_

_Just then Aokiji entered the war zone by freezing the ocean. Surprised and confused yells came from the ships and they all yelled at Aokiji._

_"Shit!" Ace cursed and tightened his hold around his brother, whose breathing was now ragged and sounded painful._

_"Ace-kun, you melt the ice so I can call my friends and get us out of here!" Jimbei started to run towards the port, Ace close behind. The plan didn't sound waterproof but he was willing to try anything!_

_They were nearing the port, when a loud scream filled the sky:_

**"AKAINU MELTED OLD MAN'S FACE!"**

_Ace stopped and turned around to see if this was true which was his first mistake._

_Akainu was close behind him and ready slay down the both D-brothers. Just when the fist came towards them, Jimbei jumped in between and countered the attack. He roared and hit the man, causing him to go momentarily confused, giving just enough time for Ace and Jimbei to run away._

_They got to the port and Ace gave Luffy to Jimbei and began to create the biggest fire ball he had done after his fight with Teach._

_From the corner of his eye, he saw Crocodile fighting with some weird pink feather-guy and kept glancing at Luffy there and then._

_"Ace-kun, hurry!"_

_"I'm doing the best I ca-"_

_"Never turn your back to the enemy…"_

_Jimbei let out a pained cry and when Ace turned, he saw Akainu standing behind the merman. The red and black fist came right through the man's shoulder and hit Luffy's chest!_

**"LUFFY!"**

_The fist didn't go through the small chest but it did melt skin and muscle. The smell of burning rubber filled Ace's nostrils and something snapped inside of him. He pulled Jimbei away from the Marine man and released many fire attacks at the man, not caring if they worked or not. The attacks confused Akainu and he was forced the go back, only to feel someone's presence behind him._

_Whitebeard._

_Ace ignored everything else and helped Jimbei up._  
><em>The man was panting hard and staring down to Luffy, whose chest was red from blood. The older brother bit his lip and stroked the pained face of his brother with shaking hands.<em>

_What had he done?!_  
><em>If he just had been a little faster, then…<em>

_Buggy the Clown flied over them and Ace shouted at him. With the unexpected help from Crocodile, they threw Luffy and Jimbei to the Clown who floated away._  
><em>Of course it wasn't as easy as Ace had hoped. Aokiji tried to attack the floating trio, only to be stopped by Crocodile.<em>

_Just then a yellow submarine emerged from the frozen sea and a tall man with a long swords came forth. He shouted to Buggy and told him to bring Luffy to him - he was a doctor!_

_Later Ace had learned the doctor's name._  
><em>Trafalgar Law.<em>  
><em>He was the man Luffy formed an alliance later on.<em>

_After the submarine had gone under the ice and escaped from the war zone and from the ice Aokiji sent after them, Ace could finally let out his breathe._  
><em>He turned just in time to witness his Father's death.<em>

_Everything was blurry after that…_

_"—e, Ace,_** ACE!"**

Ace snapped from his daze when he felt something connect his side hard. He groaned and held his pained side and glared Marco.

"Marco… What the hell birdbrain…"

"You had a narcoleptic fit and saw a nightmare, again yoi."

Really?  
>A nightmare?<br>Well that explained everything.

"Sorry Marco… I was there again."

"Yeah I guessed when you started to call out Luffy, yoi. Kid, you need sleep. Go to the infirmary and tell the nurse to give you something."

"Trying to force me to sleep, _Daddy_?"

Marco scowled. "Don't call me that."  
>Ace was cranky. He was tired and when he was tired, he was a mean motherfucker. He would do anything to cause a fight just so that his restless mind could be at ease.<p>

"Why not? You're our father now, aren't you Marco?"

"No Ace, I am not. But if you want to think that way, think me as your older brother. We're all brothers here, continuing our father's will and journey."

Ace gritted his teeth and balled his fists.

He shouldn't have said that. Not to Marco, not to anybody.

"Marco, look, I'm sor-"

"Ace! There a call for you!" Haruta yelled from other side of the ship. Ace blinked and stared Marco who also seemed rather curious.

"Who?"

"Says she's the navigator of your brother's ship! She had something urgent to tell you - it's about Luffy!"

**xxxxxx**

"Nami-san… That was awfully mean of you", Brook said with a hint of worry in his tone. The whole remaining crew had gathered in the galley. The orange-loving woman had a wide cat-like smirk on her lips and put down the receiver.

"Well, at least that will hurry him up. And since I gave him the coordinates, he should be here by tomorrow afternoon."

"You know Nami, I have to agree with Brook on this one… We all know how Ace is around Luffy, especially if he's in trouble. You made it sound like he was in the verge of death", Usopp said and massaged his forehead.

"Well he might as well be if he doesn't eat!" Nami defended herself and sat on the seat Sanji offered her. The blonde man nodded his head.

"I can't tell his age but he looks younger than seven and for that young to be without eating is bad", the cook said with a disapproving look on his face.

Zoro stood by the counter and drummed the surface with his fingers. Ace was coming here. The son of the former Pirate King, no Portgas D Ace was coming here.  
>He had met Ace once and it had been only a short visit. The male had given a good impression of himself and they all felt honored when the male entrusted them with his brother. But now, somehow he was a little nervous of meeting the infamous older brother.<p>

Zoro had read about the happenings at the Great War and it left him worrying over his captain. Luffy had _disappeared_ from the battle zone and only to be seen again on the newspapers weeks later. He had gone back to pay respect to those who had sacrificed their lives for saving his brother.  
>Such great person as Edward "Whitebeard" Newgate.<p>

Ace too had disappeared but the rumors said he was still sailing around the New World with the remaining Whitebeard pirates.

The galley fell in silence as they all thought about their captain and the possible reactions Ace would have. None of them were funny.

* * *

><p>The pirate ship Thousand Sunny was anchored by the island, not anywhere where the villagers could see it raise an alarm. Marines were the last thing they wanted upon their shoulders.<br>It was nice and peaceful on board.

Robin and Chopper had gone on the island and were asking questions from the villagers, while Franky and Usopp tried to find the fruit from the jungle.

Zoro was on the crow's nest looking out for any trouble and keeping his eye on the horizon in cause Ace'd show up.

Brook and Nami stayed on the deck and kept their eyes open for any possible kind of interruption. While their captain was not himself, so to speak, the crew was weak. Not even Zoro or Sanji together could match the captain's monstrous powers and strength.

Brook stood by the mast and Nami went to check on Luffy, who still hadn't moved from his spot under the t-shirt.

"Luffy?" the woman spoke with a gentle voice. "Someone is on his way to see you."

The small lump flinched but said nothing.  
>Nami gently touched the lump and pulled her hand away when she felt the boy flinch and draw in a quick breathe. Luffy was terrified of her.<br>The woman felt something burn in her eyes and quickly moved away from the bed and went outside. Brook stood there and had a sympathetic look on his skull-face.

"Nami-san, it will be okay."

"I really hope so Brook, I really do", Nami said and dried the tears in her sleeve.

"Guys!" Zoro's voice came from above. The man was climbing down the latters.

"He's here."

**xxxxxx**

Ace was next to the big ship he recognized as his brother's from the newspapers. The ship was bigger than the old one but wasn't as enormous as Old man's ship. Looking up, the male saw a familiar green moss-ball greet him and he threw a robe to the man, who tied it around the railing. Next Zoro dropped down the robe latter and Ace climbed up.

"Ace!" Nami greeted him with a bright smile. "Whoah, you've changed!"

"Same to you, Nami", Ace nodded his head and pushed his cowboy-hat off his head. There were only Nami and Zoro on board and—HOLY SHIT WAS THAT A LIVING SKELETON!?

"Ah, we haven't met before. I'm Brook, I'm the musician and the newest crew member, how do you do?"

Ace stared the skeleton eyes almost out of their sockets.  
>He had spent most of his time in New World and had never come across with a living skeleton! But hey, this was Luffy and his crew, anything was possible.<p>

"Erm, hello Brook. Name's Ace."

"Yohohohoho! I know that!"

"Where's Luffy?" Ace ignored the skeleton's lively answer and stared the orange-haired woman with brows furrowed. He had come here at top speed just to see Luffy.  
>Nami's call had left him restless and after the call had ended, the male had packed his bag, took the Striker and left his crew without even saying good bye. Marco would understand, he knew that.<br>Now he was here and he wanted to see Luffy, so where was he!

"Wait a second Ace. First we need to wait the others to come back, then we will explain the whole thing to you", Nami said and held her arms in front of her.

Ace scowled and wanted to argue.  
>He had rushed here without any breaks and now the woman told him to wait?!<p>

Without noticing, Ace's fists had lit up in fire and the fire was spreading up to his shoulders. Zoro pulled out his sword and stood in front of Nami and Brook.  
>The older D noticed that something was wrong and quickly killed the fire.<p>

He scratched the tip of his nose in embarrassment. "Apologies."

"Don't worry about it", Nami said but was clearly shaken off. Just then the galley's door opened and Sanji came out.

"Oh, Ace's here already. Nami-san and the rest of you shit heads, come inside to wait for the others. I'll make some tea."

"What a great idea Sanji-kun!" Nami praised the man, Ace sweat-dropped when he saw the man swoon and swirl. "Let's go inside Ace! There we will explain everything to you and wait for the others to return."

**xxxxxx**

"So let me get this straight", Ace said while holding out his hands.

Nami was sipping her re-heated tea after telling the past events for the second time. Zoro was leaning against his arm and with his other he was gulping down his third bottle of booze. Brook decided to between Sanji and Nami in silence, while Sanji decided to go and prepare the supper.

"Luffy found a random fruit and ate it?"

"Yup."

"It made everything he ate or drink taste bad afterwards?"

"Yeah."

"He went to bed and when Zoro and Chopper went to check on him, they find him shrunk and he doesn't recognize you?"

"That's true."

"Woah…" Ace said and slumped back on his seat. Luffy had shrunk?  
>For real?<br>And he didn't know who his crew were? He didn't even recognize Zoro or Chopper? That sounded very bad.

"Usopp and Franky are looking for the fruit in the jungle, and Chopper is with Robin at the village, asking around. I hope they find out something", Nami said and put the tea cup down.

Ace took his right hand up to his face and covered his eyes.  
><em>'Oh Luffy… Why do you have to be so reckless?'<em>

"But can I go and see him?" the older D asked and while rubbing his eyes with his fingers. Nami nodded but told him to wait for the others first.

And they waited.  
>Lucky for them it didn't have to too long. After thirty minutes or so, they heard footsteps on the deck and the door to the galley opened.<p>

Usopp came in first and he looked drained.  
>Franky wasn't looking any better and he went straight to the fridge and took out some Cola.<p>

Chopper and Robin came in and Robin was holding a banana shaped candy cane. The reindeer chanced from Walk point to his normal form. He climbed on the seat next to Ace and slumped over the table with his tongue out of his mouth. Even Robin seemed tired.

"Well?" Nami asked when everyone had taken their seats around the table. Usopp was laying on the table, panting like a dog.

"We found the fruit after many hours of searching. **How on Earth did Luffy find it!?**"

"Natural talent", Nami shrugged. Ace had to roll his eyes not to chuckle.

"Anyway they found it and we also found some information on the fruit!" Chopper exclaimed and threw his hooves up in the air. But since he was too exhausted, he let Robin do the talking and concentrated on drinking down the water Sanji had given him.

"Yes, so according to this old witch doctor, the fruit is used to cure people with different kinds of deceases and damages. The fruit has been used to cure sick people for years on this island", Robin said while examining the fruit.

"I told the woman that our captain has eaten the fruit and she told us not to worry. The fruit would wear off in time."

"In time? What does she mean? Can't she be more specific?" Zoro asked.

"Apparently turning into a child is a side-effect but it wears off eventually. But it could take a few days, a few weeks, months, even years", the raven-haired woman spoke and cast her eyes downwards.

"But it won't harm him in any way?" Nami asked with a nervous voice. Robin shook her head.

"No but we should keep our eyes on him. Since no one on the island has never eaten the fruit unless they are sick, the witch doctor did not know the side-effects well", the woman spoke thoughtfully.

Ace was fidgeting on his seat.  
>All this talk about his brother made him want to see him even more desperately!<br>Robin was still speaking when the Portgas stood up and exited the galley. No one dared to stop him.

When he got in front of the door, Ace put his slightly shaking hand on the handle and pushed the door open.

**xxxxxx**

The small child hugged himself tighter when he heard his stomach rumble again.  
>He was hungry but he didn't want to admit it. He was too scared.<p>

He was on a pirate ship and Gramps had always told him to stay away from those! Gramps was going to be so mad when he'd find him.

_If_ he found him…

Just thinking about not seeing Gramps or his big brother again made the little boy tear up. He missed them! He missed his big brother's stories and warm hugs. He missed the times they spent with playing hide-and-seek.

The door opened with a soft click, causing the little boy flinch and pull the pillow over his body. The scary pirates were back!

"Luffy?"

The child furrowed his brows.  
>That voice sounded awfully familiar…<p>

The door closed and soft footsteps could be heard coming closer to the hammock. The little boy buried his face into the soft mattress and held his breathe.

_The pirate wouldn't see him if he didn't see him!_

"Luffy, I can see you just fine."

Somehow that voice was familiar.  
>It didn't belong to anyone of those pirates he had seen earlier. And the way the man talked was familiar too.<br>Who was he?

A sigh came from the man and the footsteps went away.  
>Before the child could relax, he heard a faint sound and the light were lit on. The boy sat up and looked around in wonder.<p>

What had just…

There, in the middle of the room stood a man.  
>The man wore a leather vest and had his whole front upper-body exposed, funny man. He'd get sick wandering outside like that!<br>The child stared the man's face, tilting his head a little when he saw the look on the man's face. He seemed worried and a little sad. Why would he be sad? Pirates weren't sad, they were angry and mean!  
>But… that face. It was so familiar! The way the long bangs hung and the freckles, wait, <em>freckles<em>?!

He looked just like his big brother Ace!  
>But, but how?<p>

"It really is true", the man spoke. "You really did turn into a little kid." Ace walked back to the hammock and raised his hand to touch the little boy's face. The little boy flinched and tried to move away from the hand's reach.  
>Ace frowned. "Luffy…"<p>

"Wh-who are you? A-and h-how do you know my name?"

A pained look came upon the man's face.  
>Luffy really didn't remember anything!<p>

"Luffy, it's me, Ace."

The boy tilted his head in confusion. "Ace?"

"Yes."

"I have an older brother whose name is Ace! And he has freckles on his face, just like you do!" the small version of Luffy pointed Ace's face.  
>The older brother felt the old annoyance raise its head but decided to let it go. The last thing he wanted was to scare the little child.<p>

Speaking of which, how old was Luffy now?  
>He didn't have the scar he received from his "act of braveness" when he wanted prove his manliness to Shanks and his crew. Luffy was six around that time and then when Luffy moved to Dadan's place with Ace, he was seven.<br>So, this meant…

"Luffy, how old are you now?"

The boy blinked and stared his hands he had brought near his face. First he stared his left and put three fingers down, then he stared his right one and put down two. He showed the fingers to Ace and smiled brightly.

"I'm five!"

Five.

…

_FIVE?!_ Luffy had turned into a five-year-old?!  
>Ace hit his head against the woody hammock's side. The act startled the five-year-old but this time he didn't move away, instead he crawled closer to the edge and patted the man's hair. He didn't know why but he felt safe around the man.<p>

Ace looked up to meet his little brother's smiling face.

"Don't hurt yourself mister! Having ouchies is not fun", Luffy poked Ace's red forehead.

"Luffy", Ace gently grabbed the much smaller hand in his. "Can't you tell who I am?"

Confused, Luffy tilted his head. "You… You sound like my big brother Ace. You even speak the way he does! And you both have freckles and funny black hair. Even your name is Ace!"

_Funny black hair?_

"Luffy, I'm Ace. Your big brother", Ace said cutting straight to business. He knew if he let the child think about the thing more, his brains would eventually crash. Yes it was possible.

The little boy opened his mouth and didn't know what to say.  
>This man was his older brother?<br>But, but that was impossible! Ace was only three years older from him! Ace was eight and this man was… Old!

"Yo-you can't be! My big brother is eight!" Luffy tried to pull his hand back from the impostor, who only tightened his hold around his hand. The bigger Ace bit his lip and thought how he could prove his identity to Luffy so he'd believe him. There'd to be some way!

_Oh._

"Luffy, on your fifth birthday I baked you a cake and accidentally fell asleep on the dough. I woke up when you were eating the dough from my face with a spoon. You also broke Gramps' favorite plate while running around the kitchen table when you were escaping from me. We glued the plate back together and acted like it had always been like that. Gramps didn't get mad at us since it was your birthday", Ace told the boy.  
>Luffy stared the man in awe. <em>'How does he know?'<em>

"As your birthday present I gave you a picture book and Gramps gave you a toy Marine ship", Ace ended the story and waited for the child's reaction.

Luffy stared the man eyes wide from disbelief. "A…ce?"

"Yes Luffy, big brother is here."

The little boy's eyes filled with tears and his lower lip was quivering. Luffy threw himself in Ace's arms and hugged the man around his neck while sobbing uncontrollably.  
>Ace hugged the small child and with his other hand he gently patted the boy's back soothingly.<p>

The older D only now realized that his younger brother was wearing a shirt that was too enormous for him to wear. The boy had somehow managed to get his whole upper-body through the neckline and the rest of his body from waist down was covered in the t-shirt.  
>It was <em>slightly<em> disturbing.

"But but Ace? How come you're so big and old?!" Luffy stared the man with eyes wide from wonder and excitement. He touched Ace's face with his small, chubby hands and pulled the male from his bangs. A grunt left the man and Luffy giggled.

"Weeell, I _am_ your _big_ and _older_ brother, aren't I? It's only logical for me to bigger and older than you", Ace said and laughed nervously. A poor excuse, yes, but how else should he explain Luffy that he had shrunk and become a five-year-old?! An excuse like this would surely satisfy the oblivious boy.

"Oh, okay then!"

See?!

Ace sighed and pulled the shirt better on Luffy, They really needed more fitting clothes for the boy if he was going to stay like this a while.

"Ace… Where are we?" Luffy whispered after Ace had helped him to put his arms through the big sleeves. The t-shirt had a knot tied on the side so it'd fit the boy better, also the neckline had a knot just so it would fall down again.

The voice was quiet and a little shaky, informing Ace that his brother was scared.  
>Why wouldn't he be?<br>He was back in his five-year-old form and didn't have any knowledge of these people on the ship! No wonder he got scared when he saw Zoro, or Chopper (poor Chopper).  
>And if Ace remembered correctly, Luffy was still afraid of pirates.<p>

Luffy had only heard scary stories of the pirates when he was a kid, thanks to Garp. But his opinion changed when he met Shanks, which was a year later.  
>But Shanks wasn't here now and-<p>

**Wait a minute.**

"Luffy?"

"Nah?"

"Could you give me your arm for a sec?" Ace held out his palm and Luffy put his right arm on it. The older brother swallowed and pinched the soft skin, and pulled. A yelp left the boy and he pulled his arm back.

"What was that for?!" The boy exclaimed tears in his eyes and blew air on the red mark in his arm.

Just as Ace had thought.  
><em>'He didn't stretch.'<em>

The Rubber fruit…  
>It was gone!<p>

But… But how, no, why?!

A horrible idea struck Ace: His little brother was five-years old and defenseless! He couldn't protect himself!  
>With the Rubber fruit gone, Luffy was…<p>

It did made sense in some way.  
>Luffy received the Rubberman powers after he met with Shanks and ate the Devil's Fruit Shanks had found on his adventure.<p>

Luffy hadn't met Shanks yet.  
>Therefore he didn't have the Rubber-fruit powers.<p>

Feeling very protective over his brother, Ace hugged the little boy hard. He'd never let his eyes off the boy, never.

"Aceeeh…. I can't breatheee-", the child whined and pulled the older male from his bangs again.

"Oh, sorry Luff."

"You never told where we are?"

"Ah, yes. We are on a ship. On a pirate ship."

Okay maybe he should have picked her words more carefully since Luffy went rigid in his arms. The boy was really scared. "Pirate ship?!" the boy whimpered.

"No but Luffy these are nice pirates! They are your friends!"

"My… My friends?"

"Yes, friends and family."

"Family…"

Ace smiled.  
>Luffy had no children to play with back at Fuschia since he and Ace were the only kids in the village at the time. The only one Luffy could play with was Ace but when Ace was sent to Dadan's place after Luffy's sixth birthday, the little boy was all alone. Ace had met Sabo after he had gone off to the mountains but Luffy was alone with grownups of the village.<p>

"Yes Luffy, they are your friends and family. You're not alone anymore", Ace ruffled gently the messy hair and Luffy circled his arms around the man's neck again.

* * *

><p>"How do you think Ace is doing?" Usopp asked for the millionth time in one hour. Nami groaned and kicked the male's calf.<p>

"For the thousandth time Usopp: WE DO NOT KNOW!"

"You don't need to be so mean about it…" Usopp whined and nursed his calf. He shrieked when he saw Nami's eyes lit up and the woman grabbed her weapon.

"Hey", Zoro interrupted the two. "Someone's coming."

Faint footsteps were heard from the deck and they continued up the stairs and soon the door to the galley opened.  
>Everyone held their breaths and waited.<p>

Ace came in holding a swaddled child in his arms.  
>The air was cold so Luffy wouldn't have be warm enough with only the over-sized t-shirt tied around his small body, so Ace had swaddled him inside the thick and warm blanket.<p>

Nami covered her mouth to stop the small squeal, Robin chuckled behind her hand.

"Hey guys", Ace said with a grin. Luffy had a small blush on his face and turned his head away. It was weird to have all those strangers' attention on him.  
>"Luffy, these are the people I told you about.<p>

"That guy over there is Zoro", Ace pointed the green-haired man who was leaning against the wall. Luffy peeked from behind the blanket and stared the man. He knew that man! He was one of those whom he had met first!  
>…. He had green hair. Awesome!<p>

"Next to him is Franky", Franky did his pose and grinned. Luffy seemed confused and looked up to his brother.

"This lady over here is Nami and next to her are Robin and Usopp", Nami waved with a smile, Robin smiled and nodded her head and Usopp smirked and tapped his chest with his thumb.

"That's Sanji, on the counter is Chopper", Sanji nodded and put his tobacco away. Chopper waved his little hooves excitedly.

"And this is Brook."

Luffy looked behind Ace's head and his jaw dropped.

A skeleton?!  
>A skeleton drinking tea?!<p>

"Hello, Luffy-san."

The small boy hurriedly pulled the blanket over his face and buried himself in Ace's chest.  
>Scary!<p>

Everyone shared a sympathetic look with Brook.  
>The skeleton was scary when he was met for the first time but when you got used to him and got to know him, he turned out to be an okay guy.<p>

"Just give him time, Brook."

"Don't worry Ace-san. This doesn't hurt my heart because I don't gave one! Yohohohoho!"

* * *

><p>It was already late and Sanji had prepared the supper for the crew.<br>He even made Luffy a children's dish which the boy eat, uncharacteristically slowly. He seemed nervous to be in a big group and stayed on his brother's lap the whole time.

Nami told Ace that tomorrow she and Robin would go to the small town and buy Luffy more fitting clothes so for now the boy had to wear Chopper's clothes.  
>The clothes fit the boy almost perfectly.<p>

"Luffy's awfully small for a five-year-old."

"He's always been small for his age, even as a kid", Ace told the chef who had been keeping his eyes on his captain's small shape for a while now.  
>Luffy sat by Ace's legs and played with a robot Franky had given him.<p>

The whole crew was spending their time in the galley, chatting and enjoying the cute company of their little captain.  
>Luffy wasn't comfortable around the crew yet but he would be in time.<p>

"I also noticed that he ate slowly, what's up with that?" Sanji continued.

"Ah, well…" Ace scratched his neck. "You see, when Luffy was seven, he was sent to the place where I was. Her name was Dadan and she was something like our foster mother. Gramps wanted us to grow up to be Marines so he sent us to a punch of mountain bandits."

"And how does that make any sense at all?"

"Like I'd know. Anyway, we had to fight for the food and if you ate slowly, your food as more likely to be stolen from you. So the faster you ate the more food you could grasp. But this Luffy is five which means he hasn't been sent to Dadan's yet so he doesn't know how to fight for keeping his food."

Luffy stood up and climbed on Ace's lap.  
>"Acey?"<p>

"Hmm?" Ace looked down and ignored the navigator's faint squeal. "What's up Luff?"

"I really need to go…" the boy bit his lip looked down embarrassed. Ace understood what he meant after quickly asking Usopp where the bathroom was, he left galley to go to the bathroom.

**xxxxxx**

"So, what do you think about the crew, Luffy?" Ace asked and helped Luffy to wash his hands. The small boy thought for a moment.

"They're… nice, I guess?"

"But?"

"But they're a little scary", Luffy whispered. "Especially the green guy and that orange woman with huge pillows."

...?-!  
>Ah, Nami.<p>

Ace laughed and ruffled the boy's head. "It's okay, you will get used to them eventually."

"Ace, when are we going home?"

The older brother looked confused. "Home?"

"Yeah, to Gramps."

Home…  
>Gramps…<br>Garp.

Ace shut his eyes as he saw the battle scene where Luffy met Garp. The older man declared Luffy as his enemy and was ready to fight against his own grandson from saving his other grandson. In the end Garp couldn't fight Luffy and let his sent him to the ground instead…

A bitter feeling rose into Ace's mind and he took in a sharp breathe.  
>Ace didn't know what to think about the old man anymore…<p>

"Acey?" Luffy yanked his older brother's bangs gently and looked worriedly his brother's face. Had he said something wrong?

"Sorry Luff…" Ace pulled his brother into a hug.

"Acey, you're acting weird."

Ace chuckled but said nothing. He stood up and stared the big mirror on the wall. Staring his and Luffy's reflection something inside of him snapped and he had a plan. A smirk rose to his lips and he soothed the boy's back calmly.

"Don't worry Luffy, I will take you home soon."

"Really?! Yay!" Luffy hugged his brother tight and nuzzled against the warm, broad chest. Ace was the best person on Earth! "I love you big brother!"

"I love you too Luff."

* * *

><p>Luffy sat on Ace's shoulders and stared up to the starry lit sky in awe. It was so big and full of stars! He had never seen that many stars in his life.<br>The brothers had come out of the bathroom and stood on the deck. Ace didn't feel like returning to the galley and Luffy was getting pretty tired.

"Acey?"

"Hmm?"

"How many stars do you think there are?"

"I don't know. A lot. More than ten at least."

Luffy puffed his cheeks and pulled his older brother's hair. "Not funny Acey!"

"Hahaha, sorry sorry."

The younger brother yawned and put his head atop of his brother's. He was tired. All this excitement and all these new things were tiring him out. He just wanted sleep.

"You tired Luff?"

"Mm-hm…." the boy muttered and let another yawn come out. Just then Robin came from the galley together with Franky and Zoro. Ace turned to look at the crew members and bit the inside of his cheek.

"Ace-bro, we're heading to bed now. You want to share Luffy's hammock with him?" Franky asked. Zoro passed the brothers and glanced the child-version of his captain, who hid his face behind Ace's head. He was still shy around these new people.  
>Robin smiled and a hand bloomed on Ace's back. Luffy didn't see it and let out a surprised yell when the fingers started to tickle him. Eventually he was laughing so hard he almost fell from Ace's shoulders. Luckily Robin bloomed two more hands to supports the small child so he wouldn't fall.<p>

Ace threw a nasty glance at the woman.  
>"I'll be sleeping on the deck with Luffy."<p>

"The deck? Why?" Nami questioned after hearing the older brother's declare. She and the others had exited the galley and stood on the veranda, looking down on the deck.

"I just… It doesn't feel right… And Luffy's still feeling nervous around you guys so I think this is the best solution so far."

The crew was silent and glanced each other a little worried.

"I… Alright then… But you're welcome to sleep with the guys if you want. You're family after all", Nami said with an awkward smile. Ace nodded and went to pick up his bag that laid by the mast. He had dropped it there when he got on board.  
>Luffy stared after the crew as they split up to men and women's quarters.<p>

"Acey?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we sleeping outside?"

"Yes. Right under the stars. It will be an adventure."

"Really?!"

"Yes", Ace chuckled and put Luffy on the deck. The boy squealed in delight and ran around the deck his arms spread open. The ship was so big! It was almost like a huge playground!  
>There was a swing and a slide!<p>

"Luffy, come here. You get to play tomorrow."

Luffy ran back to his brother and looked curiously at what the older male was doing. Ace had pulled out a black sleeping bag with flames on it.

"What's that?"

"This is a sleeping bag, you're going to sleep in it."

"But what about you? Won't you get cold during the night?"

"No, I'll be completely fine."

"Really?"

"Really, watch this", Ace said and snapped his fingers. A small flame lit up at the tip of his forefinger. Luffy gasped and fell on his behind.

"A-Ace! You're on fire!" the boy exclaimed and tears made their way into his eyes.

"No no Luffy, look", the flame died and Ace showed his unharmed hand to Luffy, who immediately grabbed it and examined it all over.

"It's… It's not burned! Your hand is okay!"

Ace smiled and showed his other hand, soon small green balls flowed in the air and lit up the deck in pretty colors. Luffy watched the firefly-like balls in awe.

"This is called _Hotarubi_, they look pretty but don't touch them."

"Awesome... Are you controlling them Acey?!" Luffy asked in excitement. His older brother nodded and tapped his lap. Luffy sat down and stared in pure awe as Ace started move his hands in the air and created more green little fireflies.

It was amazing.

Soon Ace was making different animals and pictures with the green fireflies. Luffy giggled and squealed, making Ace's heart almost burst with happiness.  
>He was happy.<br>Oh how he had missed this.

The lights started to disappear one by one and soon the two brothers sat in silence on the deck, surrounded by darkness. The only light sources were the stars.

"Luffy?"

Ace heard the boy reply with a soft hum, the boy was almost asleep. He placed the boy on the sleeping bag and pulled the cover on the small child. Luffy made a noise but then turned on his side and seemingly fell asleep.  
>The older brother smiled and lied next to the little boy. He put his left arm around the sleeping bag and pulled it close to his chest. Luffy snuggled against the warm chest and smiled contently in his sleep. With his right hand folded under his head as a pillow, Ace let his eyes close and let sleep claim him.<p>

* * *

><p>For the first time in years, Ace slept without any nightmares.<br>He woke up when the sun was high and saw Sanji standing on the galley's veranda, smoking. Apparently no one else was awake but them.  
>That was fine with him.<p>

The older D sat up and nodded to Sanji, who nodded back at him.  
>The blonde cook then went inside, probably going to prepare breakfast.<p>

Luffy yawned and opened his eyes slowly.  
>He mumbled something and sat up, drowsily rubbing his eyes.<p>

"Acey..?"

"Hmm?"

"The sun is too bright…"

The older chuckled and ruffled the smaller's already messy bed hair. He then picked the boy up and took him to the galley, where Sanji had placed two plates of food on the table. Luffy, once again, had a children's dish prepared for him.  
>The child was feeling a little braver than yesterday and thanked the cook, though with a shy voice. Sanji grinned and patted the boy's head.<p>

"You're welcome."

**xxxxxx**

The day went on slowly but steadily.  
>Luffy was feeling braver and he was making new friends. He had befriended with Usopp and Chopper during the breakfast, and just like Chopper, he loved to hear the sniper's heroic stories. He was now playing tag with the two other males.<p>

The crew found it funny, that Luffy was almost as tall as Chopper with his hat on, maybe a little shorter.  
>Nami and Robin had gone to the town to find more fitting clothes for the boy captain, and while the girls were off, they guys decided to mess around a little.<p>

Everyone wanted to play with Luffy and befriend with him as soon as possible, because a life without a hint of Luffy was boring and colorless.

Franky had showed Luffy his different hair-does, and just like any other little boy, Luffy was most excited about the fact that he was a robot and could shoot lasers. Franky had almost showed him his nipple-flashlights but then he saw Ace glaring at him with the most frightening look he had ever witnessed on anybody's face, so he dropped it.

Next up were Sanji and Zoro.  
>Luffy liked Sanji because of his cooking-skills and how cool his eye-brow was. And after playing with Sanji a little while, it turned out that the blonde was great around kids.<br>Zoro on other hand was a mystery.  
>No one knew how he was so good with children and he refused to tell them. Luffy found the green-hair awesome and would stalk the swordsman's training behind the mast. Zoro of course had noticed this and asked Luffy to join him. The boy was nervous but went to stand by Zoro's side.<p>

The swordsman pointed a weight on his left and asked if the boy could pick it up.  
>Luffy stared the weight skeptically but went to it anyway. The weight was they lightest weight Zoro owned, and Luffy had no problem lifting it up.<br>Of course the little boy had no idea about the numbers on the weight and started to giggle when Zoro praised him:

"Well aren't you a strong little fellow!"

"Shishishihi!"

Ace watched all of this from afar, different kinds of emotions running through him.  
>Sure he was happy that Luffy was making friends but he couldn't help feeling overprotective.<p>

**x**

Brook sat behind the mast with his violin and stared at the ocean.

The sound of his captain's child laugh was refreshing and music to his ears – though he didn't have those!

How he wished he could participate in the fun, but he couldn't. Luffy was scared of him since he was a skeleton. Who wouldn't be? Even Brook got shaken up every morning when he saw himself in the mirror.

From the corner of his eye socket, Brook saw someone peeking behind the mast at him. The skeleton decided to pay no mind to the small child and pulled out his violin and started to play.

When he stopped, Luffy stood in front of him.  
>The boy's eyes were filled with stars and he could barely control his excitement.<p>

"You're awesome Mister Skeleton! Can you play another!"

"E-eh?" if Brook had eyelids, he would have just blinked. The boy's mood had changed completely and he wasn't afraid of him anymore?

"Luffy, his name is Brook not Mister Skeleton", Usopp sat on the deck and Luffy looked at him.

"Burookku?"

"Brook."

"Burook… _Brook_… Brook can you play another!?"

"O…" Brook's jaw hung open and he open and closed it like a fish. Then he stood up and exclaimed with a proud, booming voice: _"Of course I can!"_

**xxxxxx**

By the end of day, Luffy had befriended with everybody.  
>But he stayed away from the women. After the ladies had returned from the shopping trip, they had attacked Luffy and dragged him to women's quarters and dressed him.<p>

Ace had stood distressed behind the door and was close to burning the door down to retrieve his brother. Zoro and Sanji had to drag the big brother away from the door three times.

Then the door opened and Robin came out giggling behind her hand. Nami came out after her, dragging a small child behind her.

"Captain-chan sure is cute", the archeologist chuckled.

"Aceyyy", Luffy whined and rushed to his brother. Ace looked down and couldn't say a word. Luffy was wearing a brown monkey jumpsuit, it even had ears and a tail!  
>Seriously, cute!<br>But the boy himself didn't seem to like it. Ace picked his brother up and faced the ladies, Nami was grinning like a madman.

"We also picked some other cute clothes for him! They're in our room so whenever he feels like changing, he just has to come to us and we will pick the fitting, cute outfit!"

Luffy buried his face against Ace's chest.  
>So embarrassing! He didn't want to be cute!<p>

"…cute outfit..?"

"Yeah! We found lots of cute clothes in half price and they all will fit Luffy just fine! We even found this cute red cat-jumpsuit and mini-versions of his red vest and blue shorts! And there were also some really cute-"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK LUFFY IS?!_**A DOLL**_ THAT YOU CAN DRESS _HOWEVER AND WHENEVER YOU WANT?!"_

The whole crew fell silent.  
>Ace stared Nami with fierce eyes. He was mad, oh, he was <em>really<em> mad.

Nami stared Ace with eyes wide, blinked and then quickly cast his eyes downwards. She… She hadn't meant to…

Ace sneered and walked to the mast where his bag was and picked it up with his right hand, while holding Luffy tight against his chest with the left. They were getting out of here. No way was he going to let these guys treat his little brother like a doll or a pet! They had Chopper, so leave Luffy alone.

"Ace-san?" Brook called but got nothing as an answer.

"Oi, what are you doing Ace?" Zoro stepped in from of Ace as he was walking towards the bridge connecting the ship to the main island. The greenette had his sword drawn out and was blocking the older D's way. Sanji joined the swordsman and had his leg ready for some kicking.  
>"You're not taking our captain anywhere."<p>

Ace tilted his head to the side and smirked almost demonically.  
>"Your captain?"<p>

"Y-y-y-yes!" Usopp squeaked from behind Franky. "O-o-o-our Ca-Captain!"

Ace chuckled and looked down on Luffy who stared up at him curiously. What was wrong with big brother Ace?

"If I recall correctly, your Captain was _Strawhat_ Luffy, the infamous _Rubberman_?" the sneer on the man's face got wider. The crew did not like the look on the man's face.

"What's your point?" Zoro pressed on. He drew out another sword and stood ready for any attack the Fire-user could throw at him.

"Well, fun fact", Ace now held the bag with his hand that also carried Luffy and pinched the boy's cheek. The boy let out a startled cry as the male continue to pull the skin a little and then released it. Small hands immediately went to the hurting cheek and nursed it.  
>"He isn't rubber anymore."<p>

The crew was silent and confused.  
><em>'But how..?'<em>

"And he surely isn't wearing his hat anymore. He doesn't even know who Shanks the Redhead is!" the crew didn't like Ace's tone. He sounded almost too happy about the revelation. There was something wrong in his eyes, how he was looking at them and Luffy.

"Acey?" Luffy tugged the male's bangs. Ace looked at the boy's face with a soft smile on his face.

"Wait a minute Luffy, big brother is having a conversation."

"Oh, okay then."

"He might not have his Devil's Fruit powers anymore Ace, but he's still our Captain! When the Fruit's effect wears off he will return back to normal and we can continue on our journey and-" Sanji was interrupted by Ace's humorless laugh.

"You have no idea how long this effect takes! He could stay like this forever! Or his return back to normal takes years and he has to relive his whole life again! You don't know how to handle Luffy as well as I do. He's better off with me, his big brother!"

"Ace! You can't do this! We are his family!" Nami exclaimed in panic. Ace was going to take Luffy away from them!

"You are not his family – I am!"

And with that he blasted a Hiken at the crew.  
>The members of the Strawhat crew all jumped out of the way and looked at the damage the Fire-user had caused. There was a big hole in the railing and it was slowly burning. Franky screamed in pure terror and went to put it down.<br>The rest of the crew turned back to Ace only finding him and Luffy missing.

"Where did they go?!"

"I don't know! I was too busy getting out of the way!"

"Robin, can you see them anywhere?!"

"They aren't on the ship anymore. Also the Striker is gone."

Usopp ran up to the other side of the ship the check if it was true.  
>It was.<br>Ace's Striker was gone.

"He… He kidnapped Luffy…" Chopper said with a shaky voice.

"We have to get him back! Ace isn't right on his head!" Sanji exclaimed, Zoro nodded.

"You're right Cook-san, there was something strange in Big Brother-san's eyes", Robin said with a thoughtful voice and rubbed her chin.

"But how can we find them?! They could be anywhere!"

"No", Zoro said and turned to stare at the island, which suddenly looked bigger and more threatening. "They are on this island. Ace can't go far with Luffy when he's like this. They are most likely hiding in the jungle."

"How can we ever find them", Usopp whined.

"I think I have a plan. Wait here, I need to make a call." Nami said and rushed to the galley. "While I'm making the call, you guys search around the coast!"

The crew nodded and rushed on shore.  
>Franky stayed behind, he had to fix Sunny!<p>

* * *

><p>Ace hugged his sleeping brother tighter against his chest as he navigated Striker to the other side of the island. He couldn't go far with Luffy like this, so he had hide deep into the jungle with the boy. Lucky thing he had spent most of his childhood living in a jungle so this was no biggie.<br>Okay, this was New World but he had also spent many years in New World while sailing under Whitebeard's flag. They'd be fine.  
>And when he saw the route was clear, they would escape from the island to another until they'd find a place where could live the rest of their lives at. He'd be Luffy's parent and raise him to become a great man.<p>

Ace got to the shore and carefully put Luffy on the grassy ground. He then went back to Striker and pulled it on shore, and hid it deep into the vegetation.

There.  
>Perfect!<p>

Ace went to Luffy and picked him up.  
>Now they just had to find a shelter from the jungle.<br>Luckily Luffy was a heavy sleeper.

With that thought, Ace quickly checked his surroundings and walked into the jungle.

**xxxxxx**

It took the older brother a while, but eventually he had found a shelter from deep in the jungle. It was small cave which opening could be easily covered with vegetation so no one could see it from afar or from close. It was perfect.  
>Just a little bit of decorating and it would serve as a home for a short amount of time.<p>

Ace pulled the sleeping bag out of his bag and folded it on the cave's floor so that Luffy would have soft place to sleep on. He put Luffy on top the soft "bed" and went to look around the area.

Close to the cave area was water fountain and there were many trees and bushes full of berries and fruits. None of them were funny-looking or had stripes or anything else on them. They were safe.

At least now they had a shelter, food and water.

Ace smiled to himself and went back to the cave, where Luffy was still sound asleep.  
>He sat on the cave floor, his back against wall and pulled his little brother, along with sleeping bag-bed, on his lap and gently started to stroke the boy's hair.<p>

The man felt his short ponytail tickle his neck a little and took it off, the long hair fell over his neck. He touched his hair and pulled it so he'd see it. He had really let it grow.

Sighing, Ace looked up to the cave's ceiling and shut his eyes.  
>It was peaceful and nice.<br>With Luffy.  
><em>Forever…<em>

* * *

><p><em>Three days later…<em>

Luffy had taken it surprising well when Ace told him they were going to spent some time in the jungle together. They boy had only laughed in delight and ran after the small frog he had seen.  
>The older D had done a couple of trips to the village to buy clothes and medicine, and made sure that none of the Straw Hat crew members were in sight.<p>

It was weird.  
>He had thought they'd run after them like headless chickens. Ace was positive that the crew knew that they were hiding in the jungle, they weren't that stupid.<br>Well, some of them weren't.  
>Maybe this was a trick.<p>

"Luffy, let's go get some water!"

"Okay Acey!"

Luffy ran up to Ace and followed him to the water fountain. He had caught the frog and let it go to the water. The green little frog seemed happy of its new place and swum around the fountain.

"Look Acey!" the younger D pointed the frog with big grin on his face. The older chuckled and took out the water bottles he had bought from the village. They were big enough to have water in them that would last for two days.

Luffy stared the water and saw something blue glimmering on the surface. He tilted his head in confusion and looked closer. He touched the water and image broke, but the blue was still there. Is was shining blue and had gold in it. What…?

The boy looked up.  
>The water fountain was in a slightly open area so Luffy could see the sky. And up on the sky was the blue thing that had golden yellow on it. It was circling around the fountain.<p>

"Acey…" the boy tugged Ace's leather vest. The man looked his brother and saw him pointing up, so he looked up too.  
>He gasped.<p>

Ace acted quickly.  
>He snatched Luffy into his arms and rushed into the vegetation.<p>

Marco…  
>They had called Marco!<p>

Ace grit his teeth as he shielded Luffy from the small branches and leaves in their way. The boy tried to ask what was wrong but found it difficult to speak because of how tightly Ace was holding him.

"Ace?!"

"Don't worry Luffy, I won't let them take you away from me!" Ace felt something cut his cheek and soon enough he could feel something warm run slowly down his cheek.

He had run for what felt like ages when he stopped.  
>He had reached the end of the island and stared down on the ocean waves that hit the wall of the cliff powerfully. He didn't have anywhere to run.<p>

"Ace yoi."

Ace turned around and saw Marco standing there in his human form. Luffy looked confused. How had that funny-looking man got here, and why did his head look like a pineapple?

"Marco…" Ace growled. "You're sided with them, aren't you!?"

"Ace, calm down yoi", Marco raised his hands to let the other man know he came in peace and meant no harm for the brothers.  
>"I just came here to talk with you." To prove his point, Marco sat on the rock next to him.<p>

Ace stared the man calculatingly and put Luffy down.  
>The boy hid behind his brother's legs and hugged Ace's knee.<p>

"So, Luffy really did turn into a kid, huh. That's weird yoi."

"He ate a fruit from this island that had him turned into a five-year-old", Ace eyed his _friend_ cautiously. Marco was sneaky and could surprise an enemy and a friend anytime. Ace wasn't sure if he could trust him right now.

Marco sighed and put his elbows on his knees and leaned to his hands.

"Ace, you do understand what you did wasn't the smartest thing you've done, yoi. Those people are his crew and have the very same privilege what you have. They all want Luffy to turn back. Just return the kid to his crew and apologize them."

"Never", Ace whispered. Luffy looked up to his brother worriedly. Just when he was about to ask what was wrong, the area under his left eye started to stung. He yelped and covered his cheek with his hand.

The whimper reached the men's ears and they both looked down at Luffy.  
>Ace quickly crouched on the boy's eye level.<p>

"Luffy? What's wrong?"

"M-my cheek… I-it hurts!" Luffy cried.

Ace frowned and gently removed the child's hand and took a look of the cheek. His face paled and small gasp left him.

_The scar._

The scar Luffy got as a kid was coming back!  
>The scar wasn't bleeding or anything. It was just reappearing, with the pain no less.<p>

Ace hadn't noticed Marco crouch next to him and examine Luffy, but when he did, he quickly pulled Luffy into his arms and shifted away from the man.

"Interesting", the Phoenix-man spoke.

"What is?" Ace stared the male in alarm.

"You realized it too, didn't you? He will receive his old scars back without bleeding but with the pain. Just think about the great amount of pain Luffy will be in when the scar on his chest comes back yoi."

It felt like the world disappeared from around Ace as he thought about it.  
>His eyes landed hard on Luffy who was still holding his cheek and had his eyes shut tight from the pain. He could see tears of pain appearing in the boy's eyes.<p>

The pain…  
>The scar formed on its original place slowly and the pain was torturing Luffy.<br>If the old scars returned slow like this then…  
>The scar on Luffy's chest would probably kill him!<p>

'_No… Not again!'_

"So what will it be Ace? Return to Sunny where he get medical help or let him suffer until it's completely over?" Marco's eyes shone in gruel light.

Ace felt desperate.  
>He didn't want to return to the ship!<br>They would treat Luffy wrong there!

But… But he didn't want Luffy to suffer because of him. Not again.

"I-I… I…"

For the first time in years, Ace felt cornered.  
>He wanted to stay with Luffy a bit longer but he couldn't risk on letting him suffer because of him. Looking at Marco he could feel himself become small in the man's sharp and gruel eyes.<br>He had forgotten how gruel the man could be if he wanted to.

Then he looked down on Luffy.  
>The boy wasn't holding his cheek anymore but was drying the tears from his face. The boy looked up and managed to smile even though his cheek hurt a little.<p>

"Give… Gimme some time to think about things through, Marco…"

"The choice is yours Ace. But remember, your choice will decide Luffy's fate", and with that the blonde man stood up and went to the edge of the cliff. He transformed into a Phoenix and flew away.

Luffy stared in awe the man's blue-fire wings.

"Luffy…"

The boy looked up in confusion when he heard the pained voice from his brother. "Acey?"

"Luffy… Could you ever hate me?" Ace's voice was silent and hurtful to hear.

The small child frowned and hugged his brother tight. "I could never hate my big brother! Big brother Ace is the best person in the whole world!"

The older D smiled sadly and hugged the boy back. "Thanks Luff. You mean the world for me."

* * *

><p>Ace kept his eyes on Luffy for rest of the day.<br>The boy wasn't acting strange or anything, he seemed quite normal.

Maybe he was just overreacting because of Marco's visit and threatening.  
>Yeah that was probably it.<p>

Luffy was playing in front the cave when Ace went back to the fountain to retrieve the bottles and refill them. When he got back, the sky was threateningly dark and small droplets started to fall down. The older brother rushed back to the cave, where Luffy sat waiting for him.

It was already late and the boy was slowly dozing off.  
>Ace smiled and told the boy go to bed.<br>The younger did as he was told and went under the covers. He watched closely as Ace took the dry wood he had picked up earlier and placed them in the middle of the cave and lit them up with his powers. Big brother Ace was so awesome…

Ace stared the fire and kept thinking of the day's happenings.  
>He moved his eyes from the fire to stare the heavy rain outside the cave. A lightning painted everything white and later Ace could hear the faint rumble of the thunder.<br>The storm was getting closer.

Well, at least they were okay.  
>They had a shelter and fire.<p>

The older D rubbed his tired eyes.  
>He had slept well for the past nights without any nightmares. It was refreshing.<p>

Another lightning and thunder went past and Ace turned to see if Luffy was okay.  
>The boy had buried himself deep under the covers and Ace thought he was seeing things when he saw the lump tremble.<br>Was Luffy awake and too scared of the storm to say anything?

He crawled next to it and pulled the covers down a bit to reveal the flushed face of his little brother. He gasped and threw the covers completely off, only to see the most horrific sight of all times: Luffy's chest scar was slowly returning. He could see how the skin was slowly burning off from the small chest, forming the horrifying X-shaped scar.

Luffy was panting hard, tears and sweat rolling down his pained face.  
>A whimper passed his lips and the boy grit his teeth tightly together.<p>

Ace was shaking and couldn't think straight.  
>What should he do?!<br>He was no doctor!

"L-Lu-_Luffy!?_"

He got no reply from the boy.  
>The child's shaky hands reached the small chest and started to claw it, only making the pain worse. Ace quickly grabbed the hands to stop them from hurting the boy any more.<p>

He had to get help!

Ace made his decision fast.  
>He swaddled the boy in the sleeping bag, and checked that the boy's hands were tightly against his sides so he couldn't hurt himself, and covered the boy's feverish face from the rain. He rose up his body heat and hugged the boy tight against chest as he ran out of the cave.<p>

He ran and ran.

He paid no mind to the branches and sticks that cut his face and arms. He grunted when he felt a something get stuck in his hair but continued to run. His ponytail was gone, and his hair was wild in the wind and in the speed of how fast he was running.

The scenery was only blur to him as ran through the island, all over to the other side where he knew the pirate ship was anchored.

When he got to the shore, he was out of breathe and couldn't see straight.  
>The desperation and worry for his little brother had made him confused almost about everything.<p>

_Why…_

_Why…_

_Why…_

_Why was this happening..?_

_Why was this happening to him again? Just when he had thought they were happy…_

Ace didn't hear when somebody called his name.  
>He just stood there, staring the rocks on the ground that suddenly got closer and closer.<p>

_He was falling._

_But someone caught him._

The cocoon was taken from his shaky arms and he desperately tried to reach it with weak hands.

_No, please…  
>Don't take him away from me...!<br>He's all that I have._

"Silly Ace-san", someone said. The voice was familiar somehow. "Come on, Sanji-san will prepare something warm for you."

The D felt some else appear to his other side and soon his both arms were over some people's shoulders and he was helped on board.

_Why were these people so nice to him?  
>After what he had said and done?<em>

"You are our Captain-san's big brother, so that means you're part of the family. And our family is a bit lively so there's no need to stress about the burn you caused to the ship. That's why we have Franky", a gentle female voice said as Ace was placed on a chair and a thick blanket was thrown over his shoulders.

"Now rest and let Chopper take care of your brother. He will be fine before you know it!"

Ace couldn't remember when he had closed his eyes.  
>But when the darkness took him in, he didn't resist.<p>

* * *

><p>Ace woke up a day later and found himself from the men's quarters.<br>The crew had probably moved him here so he could sleep better.

The D sat up and rubbed his eyes with his hand.  
>He felt like he had just woken up from a nightmare. Now he just had to check on Luffy before he would-<p>

Wait a minute?!  
>Where was Luffy?!<p>

The door opened.

"Oh you're awake! Morning", came the rough voice of the ship's swordsman.  
>Ace stared him in confusion. How could the man be so relaxed around him even though he had attacked them and questioned their relation with Luffy?<p>

"You hungry? The stupid cook's almost finished with the dinner."

Ace's stomach answered for the man and the male put his hand over his stomach, feeling a little embarrassed.  
>Zoro grinned and told the D to get up from the bed and follow him.<p>

When they got to the deck, the crew plus Marco all greeted Ace.

Now Ace was even more confused.

Marco came up to him and hit Ace's bicep gently.

"You had us worried you know, yoi."

"Worried..?"

"Yeah, you weren't waking up at all. Not even when Sanji put this delicious dish in front of you and I fanned the delicious aroma up to your face. You weren't even reacting to that!" Usopp exclaimed with a laugh. "We thought you were in coma!"

"_Why…" _

"Okay you shitheads, and lovely ladies, dinner is served!" Sanji peeked from the galley.

Usopp started to drag Ace up to the galley. Marco and Zoro walked behind them and laughed. Franky and Brook were laughing about something and Nami was gossiping with Robin.

Ace was seated and Sanji served the food.  
>The atmosphere was nice and light.<p>

Ace couldn't stand it!

"Why are you people being so nice to me even though I acted like a complete dick earlier?!" the D said with a loud voice. The crew fell quiet and all eyes were on him.  
>Ace couldn't take it and stared the dish Sanji had given him. It looked delicious.<p>

"I attacked you, insulted you and I even damaged your ship, so why are you-"

"Because you are family and we know just how much you love and treasure Luffy", Nami said.

"Yeah, and after Nami called Marco here, he told us just how off you have been ever since the war. We kinda figured out that you are feeling guilty over what happened to Luffy. We couldn't blame you!" Usopp added. Franky and Brook nodded.

"What you meant was good and we completely understand you, Big Brother-san. If Captain-san one of ours little brother, we would probably have acted the same way", Robin stated calmly behind her coffee mug.

Ace didn't know what to say.  
>He didn't know what else to say but: "Thank you… Thank you for being able to forgive me…"<p>

"Forget it Portgas."

"Yeah. Listen to Moss ball over there!"

"What was that?!"

"Bring it on Cyclops!"

"Look who's talking!"

"At least I still have my other eye, you Green Freak!"

Ace sweat-dropped as he watched the fight lit on.  
>This crew sure was lively.<p>

The door to the galley opened in rush.

"Guys!" Chopper screamed from the top of his lungs. Everyone quieted down, even Sanji and Zoro.

"Luffy… He's…" tears appeared in the reindeer's eyes. "He's back to his normal size!"

**xxxxxx**

The small infirmary was packed with people.  
>Everyone was staring the young Captain that laid on the bed with only a white blanket covering his naked body.<p>

"He grew back to his normal size a moment ago so I had to remove the children's cloth from him", Chopper said and dried the tear in his fur.

Ace felt his throat go dry.  
>"Does he… I mean… Can he stretch?"<p>

"I checked it before I rushed to get you guy", Chopper said and pinched Luffy's cheek and pulled – and pulled. "He does stretch!"

The rush of relief almost wiped legs under Ace but luckily Franky was there to help him stay up.  
>Luffy was okay!<br>He was rubber again!

"But… Why isn't he waking up?" Brook asked worriedly. Chopper looked sad.

"The shock from getting his scar back was too great for him and he's unconscious. The only thing he now can do is sleep until he's better again."

"So all we can do is wait?"

"Exactly."

Ace stared the sleeping male and bit his lip.  
><em>'Come on Luffy!'<em>

**xxxxxx**

Three days.

Luffy had been unconscious three days.

Was it time for Ace to panic yet?  
>Yes.<p>

He hadn't moved from his brother's side since Chopper had first brought them to see Luffy. He had stayed there and would have missed all meals, if the doctor hadn't brought them to him. Marco leaned against the wall next to the door and stared the two brothers.

"Marco…"

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Luffy will hate for this?"

"Why would he hate you? If I remember correctly, it was him who chose to eat that fruit in the first place, yoi."

"Not that. Because of me he didn't receive medical attention sooner. If I had just listened to you back there…"

"Alright, listen here Ace", Marco went to Ace and whacked him over his head. The D yelped and held his head while glaring his friend. "Luffy knows you only think what's best for him and back there you didn't know what to do! Hell, even I was shocked about the whole thing!"

"You didn't look like it though…"

"I had to act though so you'd start thinking! (Sigh) Okay, listen. I heard you ask Luffy if he could ever hate you and he answered with his childlike innocence that he could never hate you. Trust him a little Ace! He loves you, and you love him. If anything, I think this just proved just how strong the bond between you two is, yoi."

Ace was silent.  
>He turned back to Luffy and took the teen's hand in his own. It was still smaller than his.<p>

"You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Thanks Ma-"

Just then, the hand in Ace's moved.  
>The older D stared in high hopes the younger teen's face and saw the boy slowly open his eyes. Marco held is breathe, but then saw it as the best to get Chopper.<p>

"Luffy?" Ace asked carefully.

Luffy blinked slowly his sleepy eyes.  
>He turned his head to meet Ace's worried eyes.<br>He smiled.

"Ace…"

"Heyy little bro. How are you feeling?"

"You let your hair grow… Looks funny", the teen grinned weakly.  
>Ace rolled his eyes and smiled.<p>

"I feel… Drained… My chest hurts… What happened", Luffy made an attempt to sit up but Ace pushed him gently back to bed.

"You're still too weak to sit up. You have been asleep for three days."

"Three days… That means I've missed-"

"Fifteen meals, yes I know. But don't worry, Sanji will prepare some big for you later."

"Really?"

"Yes", Ace smiled and ruffled his little brother's hair gently.

Chopper came in, followed by everyone else in the ship. They all wanted to see that Luffy was okay. Ace felt the familiar rush of protectiveness over his brother but held it down.  
>This were Luffy's family after all.<p>

He still held Luffy's hand tightly in his.  
>Luffy squeezed back.<p>

**xxxxxx**

By the end of the day, Luffy was already out of bed but had to be supported by Ace there and then since his legs were still a little too weak to carry him.  
>No one mentioned the past week to the teen, not wanting to shock him or anything.<p>

Sanji had really made a great feast for Luffy's sake and everybody was enjoying themselves, even Marco. Ace had disappeared from the party to retrieve his belongings from the cave and pulled Striker back to the water and sailed it back to where Thousand Sunny was.  
>He anchored the small ship there and left his bag on board.<p>

When he climbed back on the big ship, he wasn't expecting on seeing Luffy there.

"Can I have a word with you?"

"Uh, sure."

Ace followed Luffy to the bathroom and stood confused by the big bathtub and watched Luffy lock the door. What was going on?

"Luffy, why are we—"

"I remember what happened during the past week, big brother."

Ace froze when Luffy got straight to the point.  
>His quilt was returning and he was ready to beg for forgiveness on his knees.<p>

"How?"

"While I was sleeping, I got flashbacks from here and there", the teen answered shrugging. The big brown eyes were staring straight into Ace's soul and he was quivering.

"I'm not mad at you Ace, if that's what you're worried about."

"But Luffy, I—"

"No Ace", the young D smiled and walked up to Ace, taking his hands in his. "I'm happy."

Happy?  
>"Why?"<p>

"Because of how much you love and value our brotherhood!" Luffy exclaimed with a wide grin like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But Luffy… You could have died! And not to mention how I treated your crew…" Ace tried to pulls his hands from Luffy, who only hold tighter.

"But I didn't! I'm not that easy to kill."

"You're clearly missing the point here." Ace muttered and looked away.

"Big brother", Luffy's voice was stern and it itself forced Ace to look at Luffy. The teen was wearing a serious look that the older had never seen on the other male's face before.

"You acted like that because you wanted to protect me. You were scared for me and didn't want to risk me getting more hurt than I already was."

"But I… I didn't bring you back soon enough! You-! You were in so much pain, Luffy… Just like back in Marine Ford…"

"No one would have known I'd turn back at the end of that specific day. It could have happen whenever", Luffy brought the hands up and gave the back of the palms a light kiss. "You are my older brother and this scar here", the teen touched the bandaged chest. "This is a small price compared to your life_. _I'd rather take **this** than watch you die."

"Luffy…"

_You have grown up a lot Luffy, you know that?_

Ace bit his lip and pulled his brother against his chest and hugged him while he let all his emotions go. He let everything out and Luffy stood there, hugging him back and soothing him, like Ace would do to him when he was upset.  
>Ace's knees lost their strength and they both fell on the floor, Luffy was dragged down because of Ace's body weight.<br>They sat on the tiled floor, Luffy in Ace's lap, Ace's head buried in Luffy's neck.

The younger played with the older's longer hair that was now tied behind his head on a loose ponytail. It was funny.

"You know… This hair, it suits you."

"I was thinking about cutting it back to its original length."

"Why?!"

"Because I don't need to be reminded anymore."

"_Oh…"_

Luffy smiled and gave his brother's forehead a kiss. "Then cut it."  
>Ace smiled and in turn, gave Luffy's forehead a kiss.<p>

_'Thank you Luffy, for everything.'_

* * *

><p><strong>[AN]  
>FINALLY!<br>Is... Is it okay to end this here?  
>Yeah? No?<strong>

I did anyways!

**SO, What did you think?! :D The stories will pretty much be like this. (Still not sure if this was AceLu or not…) The next one will be updated in some amount of time and this time it will have a pairing with sexual contents! …Eeep. Dunno if I know how to write that kind of stuff.**

**IT IS 23:33 AND I HAVE TO WAKE UP IN 6H 30 MINUTES. I*M NOT SURE IF I WANT TO SLEEP ANYMORE! No wait, yes I do…**

**I've been writing this fic for…. Nine hours so do excuse me for the grammar and other word-vomit this story may include. I can't see straight anymore and my keyboard is all messy and stuff… My back hurts.**

**With this I bid you farewell and good night!**

**See you when I next update! (HA!)**

**~Ame**

**[EDIT]  
>Yes you might be wondering how Luffy and Ace's back round got "fixed".<br>Okay so, my version:  
>Garp raised Ace as his grandson and after he got Luffy he raised them as brothers. The three of them lived together until Garp decided to send Ace to Dadan's because he was picking up fights with other people and he wanted him to learn his place. (He found out about his relation to Roger and based on Gramp's stories he started to hate his blood and started to act up all rebel and stuff.)<br>Luffy was left alone with Garp and since Garp was away a lot, he got lonely. Then he befriended with Makino and later with Shanks.  
>Luffy was a bit skeptical about the pirate captain and his crew, thanks to Grap's stories but eventually he started to like the man and Shanks became his role model and stuff. After that Luffy decided that he'd become a pirate! YEAH!<br>Garp ofc got mad and sent Luffy to Dadan's where he was reunited with Ace who was acting tough and had a new friend Sabo.**

**Luffy ofc wanted to hang out with his big bro and his friend and followed them everywhere.  
>Ace didn't want Luffy to follow him and got annoyed by Luffy's constant pestering and shit... Then Bluejam happened, Sabo "DIED" and Ace became a respectful big bro bla bla blah But he still feels bad for ignoring his little brother and stuff and blah...<br>SO THERE.  
>Alongside the MW, Ace is holding grudge over his past self for overlooking his duty as Luffy's big bro so he's a bit depressed.<strong>

**BUT IT GOT BETTER NOW!  
>RIGHT?!<br>Right?  
>Right..?<br>...**

[EDIT 31.3.2014]


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